Industrial · server-powered
MSI generator.
MSI, often listed as MSI Plessey, is a digits-only barcode that found its permanent home on warehouse shelf edges and inventory bins. It is simple, variable length, and easy for a handheld scanner to pick up at arm's length. This page encodes your number instantly and hands you a free PNG or vector SVG with the module width set in real millimeters.
Digits only, inventory and warehouse shelves.
Standards-based quiet zones are always on. For production packaging, verify a printed sample with a barcode verifier.
Preview
- Renders on our servers, the one Plume tool that does.
- We keep the code type and content length, never what you encode.
- Free SVG vector + up to 600 DPI PNG, commercial use allowed.
- Full details in the privacy policy.
Valid MSI input
MSI accepts the digits 0 through 9 and nothing else. Letters and punctuation stop the render, and so do digits copied from non-Latin scripts; pasted spaces and hyphens are the one exception, cleaned up automatically as formatting. There is no fixed length, short location codes and long item numbers both work, though the symbol widens quickly because MSI spends more bars per digit than a modern symbology like Code 128.
This generator does not append a check digit. Most MSI installations expect a mod-10 check digit in the final position, so if your scanners are configured that way, calculate it and include it in what you type. What you enter is exactly what gets encoded.
Working sample: 80523 a five-digit stock number, the kind of length shelf labels actually use.
Where MSI is used
- Warehouse shelf edge labels
- Inventory bins and stock locations
- Legacy retail shelf marking
Common errors and how to fix them
- MSI must contain only digits
- Delete every letter and symbol from the payload. Plain spaces and hyphens from a spreadsheet export are stripped automatically, so 80 523 still encodes as 80523; anything beyond that, like a letter prefix on a stock code, has to be removed by hand.
- Enter the content to encode.
- Nothing has been typed yet. Add at least one digit, most real MSI labels use four to eight, and the preview appears right away.
Size and printing
Shelf labels get read at arm's length with handheld scanners, so aim for a module width of 0.25 to 0.5 mm and bars at least 10 mm tall so an angled scan still crosses the full symbol. MSI is one of the less dense numeric symbologies, so long numbers grow wide fast; watch the live preview against your label width and shrink the module in mm if needed. A 300 DPI PNG matches typical thermal shelf label printers, and the free SVG covers any print workflow that wants vector.
MSI questions
What is an MSI barcode?
MSI (also called MSI Plessey) is a numeric-only symbology derived from the older Plessey code. It is mostly found in warehousing and inventory work, marking shelf edges, bins, and stock locations with digit strings of any length.
Does MSI Plessey need a check digit?
Most real-world MSI setups expect a mod-10 check digit as the last digit, but this tool encodes only the digits you provide. Compute the check digit and append it yourself if your scanners are configured to verify one, or leave it off if they read the raw number.
How many digits can an MSI barcode hold?
The symbology sets no fixed length and this generator renders long strings without complaint. The practical ceiling is physical: every extra digit widens the symbol, so the width of your shelf label is what limits you.
Should I use MSI or Code 128 for warehouse labels?
For a new system, Code 128 is usually the better pick: it is denser and has a built-in checksum, while base MSI relies on optional check digits. Choose MSI when you are matching an existing installation whose scanners and software already expect it.